The End
by adelaidybug
Summary: "Leena, it's just a nosebleed. It's just stress. What else could it be?" Claudia has Leukemia. How will the crew help her, and will she survive her cancer?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own neither Warehouse 13, nor any of its characters. I am not making money off this story, nor has any money exchanged hands.**

* * *

The buzzing of a Farnsworth jolted Claudia from her sleep.

"What," she snapped. She was cold and achy, and when her eyes finally focused, she saw Steve looking at her from his Farnsworth.

"Claude, are you still in the office?"

"Yeah, I was just… working on stuff." She sniffled and blew her nose.

"Still got that cold?"

"Yep. What did you want? I'm kinda busy." She knew she was being rude, but she was too tired to care.

"You know, you should really get some sleep. It's 2 AM."

"This is important, Steve. Someone's trying to hack into the Warehouse. I need to put up more firewalls."

"Besides the three impenetrable ones already in place?"

"Yes."

"Claude, you're working yourself too hard. When was the last time you slept in your own bed at the B&B?"

"I don't know."

"What about the last time you had a meal sitting down at the table without any paperwork or your laptop?"

"Geez, lighten up, mom."

"I'm worried about you, Claude. You keep getting sick, and you haven't left the Warehouse in days. You need a break."

"Jinksy, I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. I am an adult, and I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, but are you?"

"Yes! Listen, I have work to do, so unless you need to remind me not to lose my lunch money, or to wash behind my ears, I'm gonna go."

"Claude-"

She shut her Farnsworth.

She had to admit, she was exhausted. Being caretaker AND the tech genius of the Warehouse was taking up all of her time and energy. She been sick on and off for months. But she couldn't stop. Who would pick up the slack? Sure, Artie could mess around on computers, but he couldn't keep the Warehouse safe from Claudia-level hackers.

Pouring herself another cup of coffee, Claudia sunk back into her chair and began to work again.

* * *

"Okay, okay. You're fine, Donovan. It's just a little nosebleed. You're just overworking yourself. It's just a two hour, gushing, stress nosebleed."

Claudia was sitting on the office floor, holding a wad of tissues to her nose when she saw Leena approaching from inside the Warehouse.

"Crap."

Leena saw the girl leaning wearily against the wall, a pile of bloodied tissues surrounding her, and hurried over. "Claudia, how long has your nose been bleeding?"

"I don't know… Like two hours, maybe?"

"Okay, I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No, I'm fine."

"No you're not. Let's go."

"Ugh. Fine." The redhead made no attempt to get up.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

"It's just… uh…"

"What is it?"

"I'm a little dizzy. That's kinda why I'm sitting down."

Leena's eyes softened in sympathy as helped the girl up and held onto her all the way out to the car.

"Shouldn't someone stay to do research in case Pete, Myka, and Steve call?" The three agents were out on assignment tracking down a particularly lethal sewing machine.

"They'll be fine, Claudia."

The redhead thought she heard a hint of agitation in the usually unflappable woman's voice.

"What's up?"

"You need to slow down."

"Ugh. Has Steve been talking to you too?"

"We're all worried about you. I understand how much you care for the Warehouse. It's your life. But you're not doing it a favor by running yourself into the ground."

Claudia sighed. "As soon as I get this new firewall up, I'll try to slow down a little, okay?"

"Good. Have you had any other symptoms besides this?"

"Leena, it's just a nosebleed. It's just stress. What else could it be?"

The other woman remained silent, then pushed the button for the radio. Claudia groaned at the weird, peaceful music playing, then pushed the button to scan stations.

After a half hour of Claudia clicking between stations, never settling on anything for more than a minute, Leena reached over and turned it off.

"Leena?"

"Yes?"

"What else could it be? I mean I guess I've been really tired lately. And I've gotten a bunch of colds. And there's all these bruises coming out of nowhere...But it's just stress and exhaustion. It's got to be. Leena... you don't think it's something serious, do you?"

"No. I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

Claudia scowled. The woman had on her "your aura looks awful" face.

"Leena, what's wrong with my aura?"

"Nothing."

Claudia was going to pry more, but just then they arrived at the hospital. She had bloodied an inordinate amount of tissues during the car ride.

"You think you can get inside okay while I park the car?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Claudia got out of the car and walked a bit unsteadily toward the door.

Once Leena finally found a parking spot 6 blocks away from the hospital, she checked her phone, and found a message from Claudia.

Claudia: They brought me to room 235, floor two and are going to cauterize my nose. Hurry it up, woman. I don't wanna be alone when they stick the hot iron thingy up there.

Leena walked a bit faster. She knew despite the younger agent's tough exterior that she feared and despised every sort of medical care, especially when no one familiar was with her.

When she finally made it up to the room, she found Claudia pressed into her bed, saying "Can you just wait a few more minutes?"

"I'm here, Claudia. It's okay."

"Oh, heeeey. Who's not okay?" She tried to act nonchalant, but Leena wasn't buying it.

"No one," the curly-haired woman said with a small smile.

"Alright, let's get this thing over with."

Leena grabbed her hand as the doctor laid her back and gave her some anesthetics. Amongst quite a bit of blood and several nearly hand-breaking squeezes from Claudia, the bloody nose was finally stopped. The cauterization iron had left the young Caretaker's nerves frazzled, and had singed black marks onto her nostrils.

"It may have just been a random nosebleed, but just in case, we're going to run some tests to see if there was any external cause for your nosebleed. Some will take a few days to process, so we'll get back to you next week," the doctor said.

"Okay, cool. Try'n make em snappy, will you? I've got things to do," Claudia said, eager to get back to her computers.

* * *

Claudia's phone rang the next day, and the Caller ID showed the Featherhead hospital.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Miss Donovan?"

"This is Claudia." She had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Right. Well, Claudia, Dr. Sandusky has run your tests from last week's visit to the hospital, and has requested that you come down to the hospital today. It's very important."

Claudia was silent for a minute.

"Hello? Miss-er, Claudia?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm still here. I can come in. When does he have time?"

"He'll fit you into his schedule whenever you can come."

"Okay. Well, uh, I guess I'll be there in an hour and a half."

"And Claudia?"

"Yeah?"

"You might…. It might be a good idea to bring a family member or friend or something."

"Oh… Uh, okay."

The redhead hung up, then stumbled into a chair. Just then, Leena walked in.

"Hey Claude, I was just looking for- what's wrong?"

The girl was staring wide-eyed at nothing.

"We uh…. need to… go to the hospital."

"What is it? What happened?"

"Nothing. Dr. Sandusky's nurse j-just called. She asked me to come down and the doctor would fit me into his schedule. And uh, she said to bring a family member." Her face was expressionless, as if she were in shock.

"Okay, when do we leave?" Leena's voice reassured the frazzled redhead.

"Now. I said we'd be there in an hour and a half."

They drove in silence, besides the light tapping of Claudia's fingernails against the dashboard.

"Leena, you knew something was wrong before, didn't you?"

The woman gave a small nod of her head, pressing her lips together.

"But you don't know exactly or you would tell me, right?"

The dark curls of the other woman bounced as she nodded again.

"Well… don't let this ruin my street cred, but…. I'm… I'm kinda scared."

The dark-haired woman took Claudia's hand and squeezed it as they pulled up to the hospital again.

* * *

**Yeah, another happy story from me! Please review, and I'll have the next chapter up as soon as uni will allow.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello my dear readers. Thank you for waiting so patiently for this chapter. I had some serious editing to do. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Warehouse 13 or any of its characters. Warehouse 13 is the property of Jack Kenny and the Syfy network.**

* * *

"Hello Claudia."

"Hey Dr. Sandusky. So, what's going on?" The Caretaker sat down on a chair and looked expectantly at the doctor, and Leena followed suit.

"Yes, I'll get straight to the point. We ran your blood tests and found some… platelet and white blood cell counts were extremely low, and am going to set you up with a bone marrow biopsy and a CT scan."

"Why? What do you think it is?"

"Claudia, we could be talking about cancer here. It may be something else, but you need to understand the gravity of the matter. Anything that's messing with your counts this much is not good news."

Claudia didn't realize how long she had been staring at the little scuffs on the colored tiles of the floor until Leena's fingertips brushed her arm.

"When will we get the test results back?" Leena's voice cut through the silence.

"Probably in two to three days."

The doctor sent her for the tests, and the two women travelled back home in a daze.

* * *

Claudia didn't tell Steve. He had made a few more mentions of her continued illness, but she had managed to brush him off. No need to worry him if it was nothing. It was an agonizing few days before Dr. Sandusky finally called Claudia again.

"Hello Claudia, this is Dr. Sandusky. I'm calling you about the results from you bone marrow biopsy."

"Oh, got those back already, huh?" Suddenly Claudia felt sick.

"Yes. And the biopsy showed that you have Acute Myeloid Leukemia. I am so sorry, Claudia."

"Oh."

"I'm going to ensure you get the very best care and know all your options, so I'd like to refer you to my friend Dr. Smith at the Rapid City Hospital. She is one of the best oncologists in the state and will be able to help you."

"Okay." She felt like an elephant was sitting on her chest.

"I would highly recommend you check yourself in today, in order to get working on your treatment as soon as possible. Acute Myeloid Leukemia is a very aggressive cancer, and the sooner you begin treatment, the better."

"You want me to check in to the hospital today?"

"Yes. This afternoon, if possible."

It took her a while to remember he couldn't hear her nodding. "Right, okay. I'll be there this afternoon."

She didn't quite hear the rest of what he said, and had no idea what she said to end the call. After a few minutes, she found herself in front of her Farnsworth staring at Leena's face.

"What is it, Claude?"

"L-Leena? He said I have cancer."

Within minutes, Leena had made her way from the aisle of the Warehouse up to the office. Even the presence of the woman seemed to calm Claudia down slightly. There was nothing that needed to be said, so the woman simply put her hand on Claudia's shoulder."

"Can we go back to the B&B? I need to pack a bag. They want me at the Rapid City Hospital by this afternoon."

"Of course. Do you want to… talk with the others?"

"Not right now. I just…" Claudia needed not to talk. She needed to gather her crap and get to the hospital before she lost it.

"Okay, let's go," the curly-headed woman said with a reassuring smile. She grabbed the redhead's hand before they made their way to the car.

* * *

"Okay, Claudia. We have no idea when the next time you'll be out of the hospital will be."

"Geez Leena, don't try to comfort me too hard."

"What I'm saying is we're going to get dinner wherever you want, because we both know how bad hospital food is."

"Yeah," the redhead shuddered. "Okay, let's get Chinese food."

The two women sat in the poorly-lit restaurant with their buffet Chinese food and ate in silence. Claudia was half-heartedly picking at her food, still trying to grasp what the doctor had told her.

"Do you want to talk, Claudia?"

The young woman shook her head, stabbing a piece of orange chicken with her chopstick.

"Okay. Well, when you do, I'm here."

She nodded.

"Claudia, you're going to get through this."

"I said I didn't want to talk," the Caretaker snapped.

"Yes you did. And I'm ignoring that, because you need to know that you are strong enough to get through this."

"Leena, this isn't just something that I can get over. This is frakking cancer. People die every day of cancer. Even if I do end up surviving, it still might come back."

"But you can fight it."

"Yeah yeah, I know we have chemotherapy and radiation and all that jazz."

"No, I'm talking about YOU fighting it. Studies have shown that if the patient believes she can win, and goes in with a fighting attitude, her chances of survival increase exponentially."

"Okay, Leena I get it. Now back off! Why do you always have to be so frakking positive and proactive all the time? Will you just leave me alone for once? I'm dying, and you're trying to get me to be optimistic? Just back the hell off!" Claudia regretted the words as soon as they left her lips.

Leena put on her impassible face, but there was a faint glimmer of hurt in her eyes.

"Leena, I'm sorry, I-"

"It's fine, Claudia. I understand. Are you ready to go?"

She nodded, and they left in silence.

* * *

When they finally made it to the Rapid City hospital, Claudia was put through an arsenal of tests

and then settled into a room in the cancer ward. A few hours later, a female doctor knocked on her door and came in.

"Claudia?"

"Yup."

"My name is Dr. Smith, and I'll be your oncologist during the course of your treatment." The doctor shook Claudia's hand, then Leena's. "And you are?"

"Leena, a close friend."

"Nice to meet you. Now, I've received some of the results of the tests my team conducted earlier today, so now I've been able to come up with a treatment plan I'd like to run over with you. Your cancer is in an intermediate stage, meaning it's bad, but we still have a chance to fight it. I'm going to be honest with you, Claudia. At this stage, you have about a 48% chance at making it 5 years, and about a 50% chance of relapse."

The redhead nodded, her head swirling.

For the next hour, the doctor, patient, and friend discussed the treatment plan.

When the Dr. Smith finally left, Claudia put her head in her hands. "It's really real, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

The girl swore. "I can't… this is…" suddenly, she found herself wrapped in Leena's arms, unruly sobs tearing from her. Leena just held her and let her cry. There really wasn't much to say. She couldn't tell her it was okay, because it wasn't.

"Leena?" The young woman was shaking.

"Yes?"

"Can you call Steve?"

"I think you should tell him yourself."

"Okay."

The woman pulled out her Farnsworth and within moments, Steve's face was staring back at them.

"Hey Steve," Claudia choked out.

"Claude, hey. What's wrong?"

"I um... I'm sort of in the hospital right now."

"What?! Why?"

"Steve, I uh..." Leena squeezed her hand. "I have cancer."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Reviews would make me ever so happy. If you have constructive criticism, I am also open to that.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, sorry it's been taking me so long to get chapters up. As I've mentioned previously, uni is a killer. I really hope you all enjoy this.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warehouse 13 or any of the characters. They are the property of Jack Kenney. I am not making a profit from this story.**

* * *

Claudia awoke with the immediate realization that the contents of her stomach were not going to remain there for more than a few seconds. Lurching out of bed, she grabbed a trashcan and vomited. Laying back in bed, she shut her eyes, breathing carefully. Her first round of chemo had been administered the previous night. Was this what it would be like every morning?

Someone smoothed her hair back from her face, and eventually she opened her eyes to find Steve there.

"Hi."

"Hey."

"Well, I was going to ask you how you're feeling, but I think I know now."

"Yeah," she croaked.

"Artie, Myka, and Pete are coming over later today."

"So Leena told them?"

Steve nodded.

"How did Artie handle it?"

"In the typical Artie fashion."

"Buried himself under a pile of paperwork?"

"Yep... Claude, I just want you to know I'm here for you if you want to talk."

"Thanks." Her stomach felt a bit less like she was on a rollercoaster now, and she managed to get out of bed and hug him tightly.

"Do you need anything? What about some breakfast?"

Claudia's stomach lurched. "Ugh, let's not talk about food right now."

"Still feeling nauseated?"

She nodded. "I think I'm going to go back to sleep."

"Okay."

She got back in bed and pulled the thin hospital blankets over her shoulders.

"Hey Steve?" She sounded drowsy.

"Yeah?"

"Can you bring your razor next time you visit?"

It took a moment for him to realize what she meant. "Yeah, of course."

"Thanks."

Steve watched her drift off to sleep and stayed in the room for quite a while, almost afraid if he didn't watch her, something bad would happen.

* * *

Claudia woke from her nap to find Artie sitting beside her.

"Hey kiddo."

"Huh, at what point in my adulthood do I outgrow that nickname?"

"Never."

"Good."

"So… cancer…"

"Yeah..."

"Yeah…." The man rubbed his eyebrows and adjusted his glasses. "We all should have told you to slow down."

"Artie, I kind of doubt that slowing down would have made me not get cancer."

"I know, but still…"

"C'mere old man." The young woman slid out of bed and hugged her surrogate-father tightly. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap on toast."

He nodded sympathetically. "When are you going to call Joshua?"

She sighed. "I guess I should do that, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Would you, uh… stay here while I call him?"

"Of course."

She took out her phone and shakily dialed her brother's number.

"Hello?"

Claudia' heart dropped. She had hoped he wouldn't answer. "Uh, hey Josh, it's me."

"Claudia, what's wrong?"

Artie nodded at her reassuringly.

"I need you to come to Rapid City."

"What? Why?"

"Joshua, I'm… I'm sick. I have cancer." The words tasted bitter.

"W-what?"

"I have cancer. Acute Myeloid Leukemia. I'm in the hospital. Can you come?"

"I'll book a flight now," he choked out.

"Okay."

"Claude, I can't.. believe this."

"I know, neither can I."

"Claude, I'm sorry I haven't been around and-"

"Josh, we don't need to do this right now. When you get here, we can talk."

"Okay. I guess I'll let you know once I have my flight details."

"Okay. Bye Josh."

"Bye."

She sighed as she hung up.

"Why did this have to happen? I mean, I guess I thought the Caretaker is supposed to have some sort of protection against this. I thought I was technically immortal? Why the hell did this happen to me, Artie?"

"I don't know."

"I don't want to die," she whispered.

"I know."

* * *

It was day 3 of Claudia's chemotherapy, and she already felt defeated. She could barely get out of bed because of her nausea, and she had barely eaten since the ordeal had begun. She had asked Steve to bring his razor with him when he visited her that afternoon and now they were in the bathroom, her in a chair, he with the electric razor poised above her head.

"You ready?"

"Yup, but I wanna do it."

He handed it to her, and she took a deep breath. Slowly she made his way across her head. Claudia continued to swipe the rest of her head until all of her precious red hair, in which she had taken so much pride, lay on the floor. She stared at herself in the mirror.

"There. That's better," the now bald Caretaker said, standing up and running her hand over her head. Steve smiled as best he could.

"You look… strong."

"No. No I don't. I'm a cancer patient. I am weak. And that's okay," She said firmly.

Steve nodded his head solemnly.

Just then, there was a knock on the door to Claudia's room.

"I'm not naked or anything," she called. "Not that it would matter if I was. Privacy doesn't seem to be a major concern here. I mean, I've already seen like waaay too many butt cracks, and I've only been here 3 days. You guys should really invest in some gowns that have better gown closure," the girl rambled on, as the door opened.

Joshua walked in, followed by Leena, who had picked him up at the airport. The man stopped for a moment when he saw Claudia's head, his eyes flickering with some unreadable emotion. Sadness? Shock?

"Hi," he said, pulling her into a hug.

"Hey Josh."

"So, your hair…"

"I wanted to shave it off before it fell out. That way I feel less… helpless."

He nodded. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm having toxic chemicals poured into my bloodstream."

"Sorry," he sighed.

She yawned. "Hey Josh, I want to talk and everything, but I'm super tired. Is it cool if I take a nap now and catch up with you later?

"Yup, sure. I'll bring my stuff to the B&B and come by later." He hugged her and left, followed by Leena and Steve. As she snuggled down in bed, she rubbed her hand over and over on her bald head, trying to think positively and be a "cancer warrior," but she felt so small and sick.

* * *

Claudia was sagged against the bathroom counter. It had been a month since she started treatment. She had lost weight rapidly, which she couldn't really afford in the first place. She was always cold and had sores all over her body, because her immune system was basically dead. She had been trying to adjust the bright blue wig on her head, but couldn't even hold her hands up long enough to style it. Her tiny, fragile arms rested pathetically on the countertop as she breathed heavily and let a few tears slip down her puffy leukemia-cheeks. Looking in the mirror, she realized she didn't look anything like she had a short time ago. Her skin was a stark white, often seasoned with the green tint of nausea. Her face had aged several years. Her head, of course, was bald, but most of the time it was covered with a beanie or a wig. (She felt a vibrant hatred toward head scarves.)

The frail cancer patient was quickly growing dizzy when a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in."

Steve opened the door slowly.

"You've been in here for a while. I was getting worried."

Claudia really tried to come up with something witty or sarcastic to say; something to show that even a small part of the old Claudia was still left. But all she managed was, "Steve, can you…"

He caught her as she stumbled toward him.

"Whoa, careful," he said, supporting her as she leaned on him.

"Sorry," she whimpered, a few more tears trailing down her face and neck.

"Let's get you back to bed, okay?" The man fairly carried her to her hospital bed, the girl making feeble attempts to shuffle along with him and dragging her IV pole behind her. He settled her back in bed and adjusted her wires and tubes.

"You feel like watching a movie?"

"Sure, but only if we get to snuggle, 'cause I'm freezing." That was only part of the reason Claudia wanted to snuggle. She needed him to be there with her and make her feel like everything would be okay.

"Deal. How about we watch the Matrix?"

"Yes! Definitely." Steve saw the first glimpse of a smile that had been on Claudia's face in days and couldn't help smiling back as they settled in and began the movie.

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading and please review with any comments or ideas for this story! I love hearing from you all!**


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